Cities and suburbs, real and imaginary.

Friday, June 24, 2011

What's the Plan, Man? Here's the plan:

So, I'm taking a moment on a pirate WiFi signal that magically appeared while I was sitting down for a minute to rest after spending all sorts of annoying time piling all of my precious books into boxes to move from Alpharetta to Decatur.

Let me tell you about housing and renting prices in Atlanta. I'm moving from a one-bedroom apartment to a two bedroom. I'm saving about 10 % of my rent making this move into a new neighborhood that's about the same as this one, except that it's closer to all the places I like to hang out. (Little Shop of Stories...Noodle... Decatur Farmer's Market... Shambala Buddhist Center... a very pleasant Catholic Church in Stone Mountain...) It's also in a part of the city that is actually more centralized and more likely to offer work. Out on the fringe of North Atlanta is yuppie country, with golf clubs and the "nice" Wal-Marts. Not exactly an economic hub for the sort of things I'm looking to do. I only lived here, at all, because it was close to a job that has since dried up.

The only thing I think I'll really miss is the amazing Indian restaurant across the street.

It's weird to move into a better town, and a two-bedroom apartment, for quite a bit less than I'm paying for a one-bedroom up here in the yuppie end of town.

I'm really excited by this move.

In the mean time, expect contact from me to spotty for a week or two. Almost as soon as I finish moving, I'm traveling to Maine for my final semester of Stonecoast. I'll be giving a presentation on the more practical stuff on creating Mosaic Fictions to my fellow Stonecoasters, and introducing a very talented writer named Zachary Jernigan at his graduate reading.

When I get back into town, I'll be looking for work, particularly part-time work. I've got enough writing projects right now to make me want to tear my hair out some nights, but this is exactly why I need a part-time job. I need to be able to say "no" to things, and I need to be forced away from my computer screen for a few hours a day. If anyone has any leads, just drop me a line.

In the mean time, expect a slow signal from here.

One of the things I'm working on, by the way, is a review of this excellent little eBook:


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That's how I felt about moving from coastal CA to Washington. Of course we moved farther but I think it was my favorite move (of the 8 my husband and I have made) so far. Best wishes on the new place! I believe every married couple needs at least a 2 bdr apt in order to just get away from each other every once in a while (and this is coming from a person who worked for her husband and my desk was 2 feet from his as we lived in a studio!)